Confidence
by Silver Fox Animagus
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy's sorting-I decided after much persuading from friends to continue this. Now it's gonna be a whole story.
1. Chapter 1

A/N Hi :) just wanted to say that this is my very first fanfiction ever...actually pretty much the first thing I've written that wasn't an assignment...so I would love any constructive criticism!

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Scorpius was confident. He had been raised to think-to know-that he was better than everyone else. And now looking over the great expanse of the dining hall he felt he had no reason to be anything but confident.

He came from a long line of Slytherins. His father had been a notorious Slytherin, not to mention death eater, and fully expected Scorpius to follow in his footsteps. Minus the Death Eater part, since obviously they were no more.

But everyone in the dining hall knew without a doubt that he would be in Slytherin house. He recognized a few people that were, like him, first years waiting to be sorted. He recognized that Weasley girl. It was hard to miss a Weasley, what with their bright red hair. Then again his hair didn't exactly blend in either, but that was completely beside the point. What was the point?

Everything about the sorting had nothing to do with him really. He sighed as another first year was sorted. They were approaching his name now.

"Malfoy, Scorpius", McGonagall called out his name next.

He walked- strutted- to the stool and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.

"Hmmm…"the Sorting Hat thought to Scorpius. "This is a tough one to sort".

Why? Why should it be tough to sort him? He would be in Slytherin, right? Scorpius felt his confidence slowly slipping away as the hat mumbled "Slytherin doesn't seem quite right for you…"

"NO!" Scorpius screamed in his thoughts. "Slytherin is right for me! I should be in Slytherin!"

"I don't see it…" the Sorting Hat replied. "Best be…"

"Anything but Gryffindor, anything but Gryffindor…" Scorpius chanted in his mind.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat announced. The Great Hall was silent as Scorpius shakily walked over to the Gryffindor table, his skin several shades paler than it should have been. He should have been angry at the stupid hat for putting him where he didn't want to be, should have been angry in general just because of his situation. But at that moment he could only think one thing-"dad is going to kill me".


	2. Chapter 2

I know I had this labeled as complete-and it was. But then I decided to continue it just because I was bored. I obviously don't own anything.

~Prongs

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As Scorpius ate, ignoring everyone at his table as thoroughly as they were all ignoring him, he thought about his options. He could always just accept that he was in Gryffindor and make the best of it. But that would be giving in, and he did not give in. Ever. Period.

He ran through a few more, unlikely options, such as asking to be resorted, or just to transfer to Slytherin. No, most professors respected the Sorting Hat too much to allow that. At this point dessert had just finished, and Dumbledore was giving another speech, a speech that Scorpius didn't bother to listen to. The prefects got up and wrangled the first years into a semi-respectable line, before starting off towards the common room.

As they walked an idea came to Scorpius that seemed so good he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. He would write to his father. Even after the fall of He Who Shall Not Be Named (even though he was dead, his name still struck fear into most people's hearts) his father had retained a decent amount of power where it mattered. He could get him into Slytherin, where he rightfully belonged.

The prefects led the first years to the portrait of The Fat Lady. Scorpius noticed that all the other first years were giving him a wide berth. He tried not to let it matter, but it still hurt a little. They gave the password, and everyone filed into the gold and red themed common room. Most of the first years went straight to the dorm rooms, but Scorpius went straight back out the portrait to contact his father.

When he got to the owlery he wrote a letter to his father, describing the situation he found himself in. He was sure that his father would get him out of Gryffindor before classes started tomorrow, but he thought it would be best if he returned to Gryffindor tower and made some alliances-friends he corrected himself. He would rather have friends.

He sent his owl off with the letter and returned to the portrait. He stood there dumbly for a few minutes before swearing loudly. He had forgotten the bloody password! What the hell was he supposed to do now! As he was pacing and contemplating his next move he lamented on the fact that everything that could go wrong had gone wrong.

But as he continued pacing, at a loss for his next move, he heard someone approach him.

"Lost snake", the voice practically hissed at him. He looked at the speaker to see who it was. He didn't recognize him, but the boy was wearing a Gryffindor tie, so he must know the password.

"No, see I seem to have forgotten the password," he said, as polite as he could manage after being so obviously insulted. "Perhaps you could help me? I'm Scorpius by the way."

"Oh I know who you are," the other boy said, not quite rudely, but it was close. "And I'm James. James _Potter_." He put considerable emphasis on his last name as if it constituted a reason for him to be acting rudely. "You don't belong in Gryffindor." He stated plainly.

"Well I have to agree. I've already sent an owl to my father explaining the situation. I'm sure he'll be able to fix it somehow." Scorpius said, for a lack of anything better to say.

James let out a sort of laugh/snort. "No he won't," he said plainly. "What the hat says goes. I was simply letting you know that I don't think you belong in Gryffindor." He said the password and began entering the common room. Halfway through the portrait hole he turned back to a stunned Scorpius.

"But feel free to prove me wrong." He said with a half smile before entering the common room. Scorpius stood there for a few moments stunned by the confrontation. He no longer wanted to switch to Slytherin. He had been challenged, and he fully intended to prove that he _did_ belong in Gryffindor. With this resolve he entered the common room, ready to make friends and prove himself.


	3. Chapter 3

heyyyy! yes I wrote more...and I have no plans for this or any other story I might be writing at the moment...plans don't work for me cause you actually have to follow them...proofread by my marauders, Ninja Giraffe and Alina Lassiter (who really needs to post her stories!)... I think thats the end of my rant...OH wait! vote for your favorite marauder on my profile!...now thats really it this time...

~Prongs

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As he neared the dormitories his newfound resolve started to waver. What the hell was he doing? No one wanted him here…no one would even go near him really.

"Fear." He whispered to himself as the realization dawned on him. They were as afraid of him as he was of them. Well he wasn't exactly afraid of them, more afraid of not being accepted by them. But it was the basic premise.

He was startled when he realized that he was standing in front of the door to the first years' dormitory. He swallowed the prominent lump in his throat and boldly opened the door, walking in as if he owned the place- a sharp contrast from the sheer terror and inner turmoil that he was feeling inside.

It turned out that his show of confidence was entirely unnecessary, because everyone, except one boy, was already asleep. This boy looked up from his book as Scorpius entered, but offered nothing by way of an introduction. Scorpius braced himself, thinking, "The sorting hat must have put me in Gryffindor for a reason", swallowed his fears, and walked up to the other boy, extending his hand.

"My name is Scorpius." He said, flinching slightly at the waver in his voice. This did not go unnoticed, as the other boy raised one eyebrow, and set his book to the side, standing up as he did so.

"I know," he said, echoing the older boy's words from earlier, though with much less underlying malice. The way this boy said it, it was more like a statement of fact, than a scornful remark. It was through this train of thought that Scorpius realized just how similar the two boys looked, and deduced that they must be related in some way.

He didn't have long to ponder the truth value of his speculations as the next thing the boy said confirmed his deductions.

"I'm Albus Potter." He introduced himself, shaking Scorpius' outstretched hand. "But all my friends call me Al." He finished with a smile.

"Damn!" Scorpius thought. This only caused more problems for his already overworked mind. Now what was he supposed to call him! He didn't realize that this was a sort of test, thought up by Albus. If he wanted to be his friend, was the reasoning behind this, he would call him Al.

"Pleasure to meet you…Al?" Scorpius said in a tentative questioning tone. Albus smiled in return and replied, "Pleasure to meet you too, Scorp." In a tone so sure it left no room for questioning that this was what he would be calling Scorpius.

Scorpius chuckled quietly in a scared sort of way as he made his way over to what he assumed would be his bed. Albus had already laid back down, and was already immersed in his reading. As Scorpius got ready for bed he thought over the events of the day. Though it had started out horribly, the ending hadn't been all too bad. He already had a friend. As he lay down one last thought entered his mind before sleep claimed him.

"I can do this."


End file.
